Forgive the solipsism but it’s been a very long time since I have been as excited about a band as I am about DVNE.

It’s even more thrilling that DVNE are sludge-inspired band that have picked up the baton dropped in the desert dust many moons ago by personal favourites Baroness (and to a lesser extent Mastodon and Kylesa et al) and run off in the kind of direction I wish their forebears had set their sights upon.

This blog and metal blogging in general is dead, the occasional fragrant wisp escaping from its beautiful corpse. It’s kinda sad but it’s OK. Things decay and feed what comes next. I get most of my new metal from Shreddit these days and that’s where I was gifted DVNE on the weekly recommendations thread. A wondrous serendipity.

Their new record is so damn fantastic, I dusted off my blogging trousers and set to document its dazzling brilliance.

Let’s take it back a few months to when I impulse bought the clear red vinyl of 2013 debut EP Progenitor from Bandcamp after just 5 minutes of listening. It was just that good. It had heft. It soared. It wasn’t afraid of its own fierce strenth. I loved it immediately (there’s 30 left at the time of writing – buuuuyyyyy itttt!).

It’s now genuinely among my favourite records of all time. An absolute beast of stargazing pysch-sludge with a sci-fi bent that blends mammoth, churning riffs with harsh vocals of the Baizley school that occasionally alternate with cleans he could only dream of.

This is all a very roundabout way of introducing DVNE’s first full album Asheran, which has finally dropped in the wake of two outstanding EPs (the aforementioned Progenitor and slightly annoyingly CD and digital-only Aurora Majesty, which is also of sterling quality).

I will eventually talk about the bloody record I am reviewing but I’ll admit a twinge of concern about the direction Asheran would take after Aurora Majesty, which was a slight left turn into crustier territory, with a trace of black metal in the vocals at least.

It’s an excellent EP, particularly the rampaging and fabulously-titledOf Blade and Carapace, but I really wanted to see where they took the space sludge of their debut.

Thankfully, at least from my perspective, Asheran is just that. An epic paean to the galaxies above driven by the kaleidoscopic energy of their exuberant, irrepressible proggy sludge.

Before you even drop the needle on it, this album is a beautiful thing. Lovely gatefold double album with lush retro sci-fi artwork adorning high quality packaging. The vinyl itself is 140g and the two discs are joyously weighty.

It’s really easy to enjoy DVNE’s cyclonic riffs, spiraling leads and roaring vox on their own without paying a shred of attention to the lyrics. Great stretches of their records are instrumental after all. Despite my general disinterest in metal lyrics, following the lyric sheet on DVNE’s records as the songs unspool is actually well worth it if you love old school sci-fi narrative that harks back most obviously to the Dune books and movies but also to Isaac Asimov and other classic 70s authors.

I don’t plan to dwell too long on the concept as this isn’t Pitchfork and to be honest, I’m not sure what it’s specifically about. I don’t really care either. It’s enough that it’s oblique, atmospheric and feels suitably epic.

If you want to try to tease out some specific meaning, then go for it. From reading the lyric sheer, I get a sense of civilisations rising and falling and a profound sense of loss tempered by renewal but that’s just my initial impression.

If you are still with me – I’m impressed, I tossed any semblance of concision and wit out the window many paragraphs before – how does Asheran sound? [Finally! He gets to the bloody point].

Absolutely bloody huge is how it sounds. If only John Congleton had dialed in this sheer scope and weight of sound for Baroness’ fantastic but sonically restrained Blue Record, what might have been?

It’s spacious, rich and fucking heavy. The riffs barrel in and smash everything in sight before ascending to the heavens, taking us with them. At the very best moments, you will feel atomized: unmade by the twin power of riff and scream.

From the get-go, it takes no prisoners. Walloping you in the face with a left-right of ten-tonne riffage and fierce yet plaintive bellows that are adorned with earworm melodies like precious gemstones on a battering ram. Yes, I’m mixing my metaphors but I’m punch drunk on this record.

I really need to see these chaps live in a small sweaty room

Melodious yet supremely powerful, this is quite possibly the most impressive modern expression of that Savannah, GA sound I love so much.

Emphasis on the modern. DVNE’s epic debut full-length Asheran is far from a retread of Static Tensions, Leviathan or Red Album.

It manages to be progressive and concept-driven without tripping over its own technicality (I’m looking at you mid-period Mastodon) or getting stuck in (albeit awesome) Sabbathisms, ahem Kylesa.

Their compositional chops are exquisite. The opening of Side III is a great example of how to control atmosphere over a double disc. After the roiling churn of Side II closer Descent of the Asheran, the subsequent Sunset’s Grace dials it down a notch and takes its time to build up the tension with gorgeous ascending, repeating leads.

Connected to this is the fact that DVNE continue to be just about the only sludge band that can do cleans that work as well as the harsher roars. Not only do the cleans actually sound good but the contrast is truly effective. They seem to know just the right time to pummel and to hold back and let you gain your breath, both vocally and instrumentally.

The key to this perhaps and DVNE’s secret weapon is their mastery of the churning riff. They circle and circle, hypnotically building tension until it’s just the right time to let rip like a blazing comet streaking in technicolour across the heavens. It’s goddamn glorious.

It is a long album. Eight songs over one full hour. Two songs per side on vinyl. But it doesn’t sag at all. In fact, it builds and builds with each ebb and flow to a wonderfully executed climax that makes you want to listen to it all over again. The end of each song leaves you breathless, excited about the journey you’ve been on and where you are going next.

DVNE deserve to be huge. Selfishly, I hope they don’t follow in the footsteps of Baroness and Mastodon. They are the true flagbearers of this sound now. No-one can touch them.

Bagsy the stud on the right. The similarity looks-wise to early Napalm Death is unnerving.

How the hell did I overlook these grotty thrash-punk geniuses? They were even from my home town of Birmingham, UK. Admittedly I was still in short trousers when Sacrilege put out their crossover debut but sweet fucking Jesus, how can I not know about a band whose alumni played for greats such as Napalm Death, Benediction, The Damned and… uh.., Morrisey, ah well you can’t win ’em all I guess.

In 1985 they put out a record that combined the best of Discharge, Crass, and the sloppier end of thrash (think Venom or Possessed) for a truly British take on crossover. The ace in the hole though was Tam’s singular vocals. She truly is the queen of crusty thrash vox: snotty, anguished but supremely listenable.

They also had an interesting lyrical approach, melding your typical crusty socio-political rants (think Napalm Death style) but wrapping them in Lord of the Rings worship. Pretty crazy for the time, huh.

Fire up the 2015 Relapse reissue that has great sound and adds another 7 tracks to the original wham-bam-thank-you-mam 6 and enjoy some chunky, memorable riffs, crusty beats and unique vocals. My fave track is probably Death’s Door.

]]>https://monkeydefiesgravity.wordpress.com/2017/07/18/sacrilege-behind-the-realms-of-madness/feed/0simonmiglianoSacrilege band picOozing Woundhttps://monkeydefiesgravity.wordpress.com/2016/09/16/oozing-wound/
https://monkeydefiesgravity.wordpress.com/2016/09/16/oozing-wound/#commentsFri, 16 Sep 2016 21:39:21 +0000http://monkeydefiesgravity.wordpress.com/?p=1701Does a band name get any better than that?

I have been checking Spotify every bloody day for their new album but it has yet to drop worse luck.

Those cunts though know how to rip. If you are unfamiliar with their ripitude, try their first opus.

Yes, there will be some who dismiss Phildel due to these superficial similarities and the radio-friendly production.

Not only are those irredeemable fucknuts just plain wrong but that’s to miss the subtleties in this quite lovely album.

There’s the utterly lethal voice that first mesmerises then fatally strikes you in the heart without warning.

There’s the faint but entrancing influence of her Chinese heritage that quietly makes itself felt most in the timbre of the string parts.

There’s an emotional resonance that syrupy balladeers like Adele could barely hope to manufacture.

Need I go on? Oh alright then. How about an oblique vocal reference to Mattafix in title track that neatly illustrates her arresting cadence (maybe that one’s just me).

Strings and vocals often hit that peculiar resonance that tugs at my heart and makes it vibrate and ache with melancholy, but particularly in the title track.

It’s a stylistically varied album yet some of the potential missteps turn out to be triumphs. Storm Song sounds awful on paper but is somehow perfect. The coffee table beats feel cookie-cutter but that voice. That voice. It swoops, soars and whispers yet avoids the curse of the empty vocal acrobatics of the bland belting of rent-a-diva.

Holes in Your Coffin is the most upbeat and dancey song and a great example of the contrast between form and content that abounds on this album. The rompiness could have been jarring but Phildel channels her inner Annie Lennox with very catchy results. Also, totally fucking awesome title for a pop song, no?

Storm Song aside, the string- and piano-laden beats do just enough. It’s hardly popstep (thank fuck) or glitchtronica but let’s say it’s stracciatella rather than plain vanilla.

Not everything works – I’m not a fan at all of the American hymnal Funeral Bell – but I get the feeling The Disappearance of the Girl is likely to give me a longer buzz than some of my past bingees (I’m looking at you Lana). So a few cheeky pills then rather than a dirty rock*

* Monkey Defies Gravity does not condone drug use**

** We do really***

*** Or do we? Or do we? Kids, if you are going to do drugs, make sure you share them with your parents.

]]>https://monkeydefiesgravity.wordpress.com/2013/04/03/phildel-the-disappearance-of-the-girl/feed/2simonmiglianoPhildel Disappearance of the Girl